Rink spruce-up revives roller hockey play in Castleton Corners

Jamie Lee/Staten Island Advance Dan Miraglia, in the red jersey on the left, a Bulls Head resident playing for the Hookers, fights for a face off against one of Buddington's forwards after referee and league director Dan Sullivan drops the puck.

Hockey buffs from across the borough and surrounding areas have flocked to the West Shore over the past year.

While the Clove Lakes War Memorial Ice Skating Rink, located in the North Shore community of Sunnyside, and the Staten Island Skating Pavilion, in the South Shore neighborhood of Charleston, may be the more prominent destinations, there is a third option for skaters. And the word is out about this unconventional alternative.

For the past 15 years, the Staten Island Roller Hockey League has flown quietly under the radar, operating out of the Staten Island Go-Karts facility in Castleton Corners.

Since adding a brand new rink surface last August, however, the league has doubled in size. Currently, it includes more than 200 players from the Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey. (There's even one player who comes in from Manhattan once each week.)

The state-of-the-art Ice Court Pro surface, which covers the 200-foot-by-85-foot rink, is designed to "simulate the same feel, skating characteristics and puck behavior as ice hockey, while using inline skates," said league director Dan Sullivan.

"I grew up with Anthony Mancusi, who's the son of [the facility's owner] Mike Mancusi," said Sullivan, a Great Kills resident who has been affiliated with the league for a few years. "Last Spring, Mike was saying how he was losing teams and how he wanted to really get the league back together again. So he asked us what we thought."

Sullivan's answer was simple -- a new skating surface.

Over the years, the pavement-esque coating of the rink had worn away and cracked in places, mostly due to weather conditions, and players looking for better sites began an exodus to Jersey leagues.

It took a little back-and-forth discussion, but Mancusi and co-owner Steve Markowitz agreed to get a top-of-line surface put in.

The turn-around was almost instantaneous.

A mostly-covered outdoor rink, the facility -- composed of NHL-quality boards and glass, a fully-functional scoreboard and an updated sound system -- can be used in most weather conditions to begin with.

With those amenities, plus the Ice Court Pro surface, Sullivan, who officially took the loop's reins last September, had plenty to pitch to former players.

Now, the Staten Island Roller Hockey League boasts three seasons of play -- Spring, Summer and Fall -- with four evening talent-based divisions in each season -- Monday "A" play, Tuesday "30-and-over" play, Thursday "B" play and Sunday "Mixed" play.

Games for the no-check league feature three periods that run 15 minutes each. Teams use a rolling clock, unless a team is within three goals in the final period, in which case time stops on each whistle.

"We're the only roller hockey league on Staten Island," said Sullivan. "And we've got everything from really competitive divisions with guys who have played college hockey and play in professional roller hockey leagues. And we've got lower divisions for guys who just like the sport and want to keep playing."

One of the more talented teams, NRS, has picked up between five and six division titles in the past few years. It is currently facing off against Express for the Spring 2009 "A" title.

(The heavy rain of the past few months had pushed back the "A" playoffs by a few weeks.)

"The competition level is great, and we try to keep things as balanced as possible so that everyone enjoys playing in the league," Sullivan said. "And to be honest, the biggest problem I've had since taking over is scheduling all the games. It's really going great, and everyone that plays in the league really seems to enjoy it."